Tag: todd grantham

CBS Sports’ Sallee thinks the days of ‘Third and Grantham’ are over

CBS Sports writer Barrett Sallee “spring football overreaction” for Florida is that “Third and Grantham” is over.

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Throughout nearly his entire tenure as a collegiate defensive coordinator (at multiple stops) Florida’s Todd Grantham has been criticized for his aggressiveness in the blitz on third-and-long situations. Often, his teams get beat over the top on passing plays in these situations, causing a lot of frustration among fans.

The Gators may not have had a spring game to show off their improvements, but based on what coach Dan Mullen said throughout the spring, it sounds like the defense has improved. In his list of post-spring practice overreactions for each SEC team, CBS Sports college football writer Barrett Sallee said that he thinks “Third and Grantham” will be a thing of the past.

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has been a lightning rod for criticism after a lackluster season in 2020. That has changed … at least according to head coach Dan Mullen. It’s nearly impossible to have a steadfast opinion on Florida’s spring due to the lack of spring game and access. But Mullen touted Grantham’s defense after every scrimmage, which is music to the ears of Florida fans. If that translates to the fall, then look out, SEC East.

The Gators have to replace a number of starters on defense including cornerback Marco Wilson, both safeties in Donovan Stiner and Shawn Davis and defensive tackles Tedarrell Slaton and Kyree Campbell. UF will instead have to rely on players like graduate transfer defensive linemen Daquon Newkirk and Antonio Shelton, as well as returning starters like Kaiir Elam.

In terms of yards allowed, Florida was ninth in the SEC in 2020. The Gators still managed to win the SEC East due to phenomenal offensive play, but with a new quarterback under center in 2021 in Emory Jones, that may not be the case this time around. If UF wants to avoid a major dropoff this season, it will hope Sallee is right and the defense takes a leap forward.

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Florida fans furious with former Georgia DC Todd Grantham

Florida football fans are furious with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham

Florida fans have been quite vocal the past two weeks regarding the status of Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

The team suffered back-to-back defeats at home to an unranked LSU and in Atlanta to No. 1 Alabama.

Despite the atrocious upset loss to the Tigers last weekend, Florida actually gave the Crimson Tide a significant fight on Saturday. However, that didn’t stop Gator fans from coming after Grantham on Twitter.

Take a look:

 

WATCH: DC Todd Grantham, Kyle Pitts sound off on STAR CB CJ McWilliams

McWilliams missed all of the 2019 season with a torn Achilles, but he’s back and has had a strong camp, according to the coaching staff.

When Florida released its opening day depth chart on Monday, the defensive lineup featured a bit of a surprise. Starting at the STAR position, Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s equivalent of the nickel corner, was fifth-year corner CJ McWilliams.

McWilliams missed all of the 2019 season with a torn Achilles, but he’s back and has had a strong camp, according to the coaching staff.

Grantham told the media on Tuesday night that McWilliams has worked hard to secure playing time now that he’s healthy.

“CJ’s a guy that quite honestly, he’s always gotten hurt when you kind of look at it, he’s gotten hurt and not being able to finish, and to the guy’s credit, the guy’s really busting his tail,” he said. “He’s worked hard, he’s been healthy through this whole thing, he’s really done what we’ve asked. He’s done a nice job, so he’ll be a part of our roster, our players, and he’ll be able to contribute to what we do.”

Despite being on the roster since 2016, McWilliams has appeared in just 16 games, starting two of them in 2018.

When tested by some of the best offenses in the SEC, he struggled, especially against Georgia in 2018. Kyle Pitts said that his struggles in that game gave fans the wrong idea bout him. The real McWilliams, Pitts maintains, will be on display this season.

“CJ is a guy that people kind of overlooked after that Georgia game, everybody was just bashing him, but they don’t know the real CJ,” tight end Pitts said. “The real CJ is how he’s playing now, 100 percent. He’s sticking, he’s hitting people hard in the open, he can guard, he can do everything that when he came here he’s doing now. Like I said, first game, everyone’s gonna be kind of shocked seeing him out there making plays.”

With a guy in Trey Dean III on the roster, who has experience at the STAR position, it says a lot that McWilliams, who many didn’t expect to be much of a factor on defense this year, has already secured a starting spot.

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FBS coaches sound off on which programs are best equipped to handle a season with COVID-19

The bottom line is, if you recruit at a high level, you will be less severely impacted by the necessity of young players getting action.

We’re less than a week away from Power Five teams beginning play in the 2020 college football season, and despite uncertainty during the offseason and a number of outbreaks within programs across the country, the teams planning to play continue to push full steam ahead.

ESPN talked to FBS coaches and assistants anonymously to gauge which programs they think are best equipped to handle a season with the cloud of COVID-19 hanging over.

The primary takeaway from these conversations is that differences between the haves and have-nots will be even more pronounced this season. Coaches said that programs which recruit at a high level have a massive advantage over programs that don’t, because they have the depth and talent to contend with opt-outs and illness mid-season.

The bottom line is, if you recruit at a high level, you will be less severely impacted by the necessity of young players getting action.

Because of this, coaches expect teams like Alabama and Clemson to navigate the challenges this season relatively gracefully.

Unsurprisingly, coaches also expect experienced and successful coaches to have a better time maintaining team morale. One said that Dabo Swinney’s positivity and Nick Saban’s ability to adjust will help both keep their teams on track.

Another coach mentioned that experienced coaches have dealt with uncertain situations before and would be more prepared for this season than others.

One thing coaches agreed upon was that due to primarily conference-only scheduling, it will not be a good year for any potential Cinderellas looking to make it to the College Football Playoff.

Without non-conference games, the odds of a Group of Five team earning enough quality wins to land in the playoff seem to be slim to none.

However, coaches do think that an expanded conference schedule could give good teams in power conferences a chance to have breakthrough seasons.

One such team coaches are keeping an eye on is the Gators. Here’s what one Power Five coach said about Dan Mullen’s squad this year.

“Dan is really good the more he’s been with a quarterback, and [Kyle Trask] understands that system,” a Power Five head coach said. “I think Florida has a big-time shot to get there this year, although their third game at Texas A&M will tell us a lot about them.”

Mullen has also kept veteran defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, a finalist for the Mississippi State head-coaching job this past offseason. Grantham turned down the Cincinnati Bengals‘ defensive coordinator job two years ago.

“The teams who have continuity from last year to this year in regards to their coaching staffs and not having to learn a lot of new schemes and things like that, those are the teams best equipped to handle this year,” a Power Five offensive coordinator told ESPN. “That’s Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, all of the usual suspects; but Florida’s in that group too.”

It remains to be seen how the 2020 football season will play out (if it does at all), but there seems to be a general consensus among FBS coaches: Talented teams with resources should be alright, while less wealthy programs that don’t recruit at as high a level will struggle.

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Four-star DB Kamar Wilcoxson reclassifies, joins 2020 class

Courted by Todd Grantham and Torrian Gray, Wilcoxson’s recruitment was one of the most eventful in recent Gators history.

The Florida Gators’ 2020 class already ranked No. 9 nationally, per the 247Sports Composite, but this collection of prospects became even stronger on Monday with four-star cornerback Kamar Wilcoxson’s decision to forgo his senior year of high school football and join the cycle.

Wilcoxson hinted at the choice to reclassify on his Twitter account, @KamarWilcoxson4.

While listed as a safety by the major recruiting services, many around the program project Wilcoxson to play cornerback in Gainesville. He spent his first three prep seasons at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia and had planned to play his senior campaign at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, one of America’s premier talent-producing programs.

Courted by defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and position coach Torrian Gray, Wilcoxson’s recruitment was one of the most eventful in recent Gators history.

He initially committed to Florida on November 3, 2018 but backed off that pledge on April 27, 2019. One year to the day of his decommitment, April 27, 2020, he verbally agreed to play for Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee Volunteers.

His allegiance to Knoxville was short-lived, however, as on June 19, he flipped back to the Gators.

Wilcoxson was rated as the eighth-highest of Florida’s 23 current commits in the 2021 cycle, now, he slots in eleventh of the program’s 22 enrollees in the 2020 class.

He is expected to officially enroll and arrive on-campus later in August.

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